Breaking the vicious cycle of misaligned metrics: Why the focus must shift

The famous quote by management consultant Peter F. Drucker, “What gets measured, gets improved,” is often cited, and for good reason. In the world of ad tech, it carries even more weight. The ability to track metrics easily and cheaply has fundamentally transformed how brands, media buyers, and media owners evaluate success. Unfortunately, this has also led to an over-reliance on vanity metrics like Viewability and Click-Through-Rate (CTR), which in the end, do more harm than good.

While these metrics offer a quick and easy way to measure campaign success, they create a vicious cycle that holds the entire digital advertising ecosystem hostage. Let’s break down how this happens and why it’s time to shift focus away from these superficial indicators.

The vicious cycle of vanity metrics

At the heart of the problem is the fact that vanity metrics are often the most easily accessible indicators of performance. Since they are easy to track and benchmark, brands have come to depend on them as their primary measure of digital campaign success. As a result, media buyers are forced to optimise campaigns around these metrics to meet their clients’ expectations, often at the cost of more meaningful outcomes like conversions or customer engagement.

Media owners, in turn, find themselves in the same trap. Their page yields—essentially how much revenue they make per impression—are closely tied to expected click rates. This means that publishers prioritise ads that generate clicks, even if they disrupt the user experience. The entire industry becomes fixated on driving up vanity metrics, leading to intrusive, click-focused ad formats that might score high on CTR but do little to actually move the needle for the brand's business objectives.

The problem with vanity metrics

Focusing on vanity metrics such as CTR might look like a winning strategy at first, but it often has a damaging ripple effect across the ad tech ecosystem:

1. Erosion of Brand Trust: When campaigns are judged solely on superficial metrics, brands struggle to see real business impact. This can lead to a growing distrust in the efficacy of digital advertising, leaving brands questioning the value of their investment.
2. Questioning Media Buyers' Role: Media buyers, who are held to these vanity metrics, find themselves constantly justifying their choices. Over time, this can create friction with their clients and force them into a reactive, short-term strategy, rather than optimizing for long-term brand success.
3. Lower Quality User Experiences: Publishers are often pressured to prioritize ad units that will increase clicks, even if these ads are disruptive. The result? An ever-worsening user experience, where intrusive ads interrupt content, causing user frustration and ultimately leading to diminishing returns for publishers.

The real cost: Diminishing user experience

The biggest casualty in this vicious cycle is the end user. After all, it's their attention that is being monetised. As the industry becomes more obsessed with driving up CTR, the online experience degrades, filled with intrusive, distracting, and irrelevant ads that don’t serve the user’s interests. This leads to ad fatigue, banner blindness, and even the increased use of ad blockers, further complicating the digital advertising landscape.

Breaking the cycle: Prioritising quality

To break the vicious cycle of vanity metrics, the industry needs to shift its focus toward something far more valuable—quality inventory. Instead of chasing clicks, impressions, or superficial metrics, brands, media buyers, and publishers should prioritise inventory that fosters meaningful engagement and enhances the user experience.

Move away from vanity metrics and start prioritising quality inventory that delivers real business results. Our upcoming Media Quality Report 2024 delves deep into how focusing on premium, well-curated ad placements can supercharge your digital campaigns. We’ll show you how investing in quality inventory with PIQ leads to stronger brand trust, better user experiences, and more impactful advertising outcomes.

If you're interested in receiving the full report, packed with actionable insights and real-world case studies, register your interest now to be among the first to access it.